'Sensational' Maye Rolls In Night Of Mismatches

DURHAM, NC – Jack White didn’t have a chance.

Neither did Javin DeLaurier.

Luke Maye was on Wednesday night, and it didn’t matter who Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski put on him, it was going to be a long night for that Blue Devil.

Maye finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds in leading eighth-ranked North Carolina to an 88-72 pummeling of No. 1 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was a performance comparable to just a few in UNC’s rich past. Only two other players ever at Carolina have had more 30-point, 10-rebound games than Maye’s five. In fact, this was his third 30-point, 15-rebound performance.

And that this came in Duke’s venerable building in the nation’s best sports rivalry with the likes of former President Barrack Obama, baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. and NFL star Todd Gurley on hand made it even more spectacular.

Perhaps Maye’s night would have looked a little different had Zion Williamson, Duke’s sensational freshman and likely top pick in June’s NBA draft, not gone down with an injury 34 seconds into the contest ending his evening. But that’s something nobody will ever know.

So, instead of Maye having to deal with the ballyhooed phenom, he had 6-foot-7 junior Jack White defending him. Maye scored over White twice prompting Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski to insert 6-10 junior Javin DeLaurier, who finished the first half with three fouls.

Maye, on the other hand, had 18 points at halftime as the Tar Heels built a 10-point lead. Maye scored in lane with short jumpers, layups off of entry passes, one spinning after a dribble, a jump hook and finally a 3-pointer, UNC’s only perimeter conversion in 14 attempts in the half and one of two makes out of 20 on the night. He did pretty much the same thing after the intermission, too.

“I was just trying to play basketball like I know I can play,” said Maye, who’s usually uncomfortable talking about his own success. “Just make easy shots, get out on the perimeter, try to guard as best I could and rebound as well as I can… I’ll take the way our team played and I’ll take the win that’s for sure.”

Maye came into Wednesday’s clash having scored just 14 total points in UNC’s two games last week, a home loss to Virginia and a 38-point win at Wake Forest. At Wake, Maye committed five turnovers in the first half, a few in most-perplexing fashion.

But he put all of that behind him going into the clash with the Devils. Sporting a new, tight haircut, trimmed beard and shedding the pink shoes he wore in Winston-Salem for more traditional white ones, Maye played as if he had an extra skip in his step.

He attacked when it was there looking quicker than he has in recent weeks. He pulled up to shoot when it was the wisest move, dished to teammates and played as if he’d literally cut the cord to whatever had been ailing him.

Some athletes say they can tell early on in special performances they’re headed for big things. Not Maye, which might be why he appeared as unfazed by his success Wednesday night as he was undaunted by Saturday’s struggles.

“I think I was just playing the way I normally play,” he said. “Obviously, you’re gonna feel better when it (the ball) goes through the basket but, whether it goes through the basket or not, you’ve got to have the same mentality no matter what.”

That wasn’t just Maye-speak, either.

“I don’t think so, he’s the same Luke,” Maye’s best friend Kenny Williams said, when asked if he sensed something was different leading up to the game.

“He doesn’t change, he doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. He knows he has rough games and I knew he was going to respond. There was no doubt in my mind that he would respond tonight.”

Williams is right, Maye does respond.

Just a few weeks ago, following a win at Georgia Tech in which UNC Coach Roy Williams said nobody had ever seen Maye play so poorly, the 6-foot-8 senior went for 20 points and 11 rebounds in a thorough win at Louisville. It began a three-game stretch in which Maye averaged nearly 24 points and just under 10 boards per game.

But then came his second four-point performance in five contests in last week’s home loss to Virginia. Then came the Wake game.

Then came the Duke game, and Maye’s coach summed up his performance pretty succinctly.

“I thought Luke was sensational.”

Duke would agree.